Images of Medan Indonesia

Medan was the first city in the Island of Sumatera i've ever visited todate. And it was fairly recently that i did that, barely three weeks ago. All this while my trip to Indonesia had been concentrated to the cities in Java (Jakarta-Bandung) and the Island of Bali. Well...it was a nice deviation from the usual crowded and noisy Jakarta and the over touristy Bali i thought to explore Medan instead.

The flight from KL took about 50 minutes. It was actually a short flight crossing over the Straits of Malacca. Just a refreshment of fruit juices and packed nuts were served for this short flight.

Our plane on the right-in the old livery....left is the new livery for Malaysia Airlines.

Boarding in progress...later turned out into a full flight. Medan is very famous with Malaysian for its cheap clothing and foods products..i.e shopping paradise.........

 Finally landed at Medan Polonia International Airport. It was a very small airport serving international flights as far as Hong Kong. Even domestic airports in Malaysia looks better and bigger than this. A new airport is being built in Kuala Namu though which will even be equipped with its own high-speed rail line.

Streets of Medan...one thing i noticed is that it's cleaner than Jakarta-generally. Maybe due to its lower population or maybe the city itself is being managed better in terms of its cleanliness. Ive always wondered if there is such thing as a department dedicated to manage the environment in Indonesia?

First day in Medan...we arrived around 10 am and there was still many times to spend. We met this one motor-taxi driver in front of our hotel and managed to arrange a day tour to all the famous attractions in Medan for RP 100k, on his motor-taxi. We crammed onto it nevertheless....

Our first stop of the day was Istana Maimoon or Maimoon Palace. This palace was built by the late Sultan of Deli Empire - Sultan Makmun Al Rasyid Perkasa Alamsyah.The design was a mixed of Islamic, Indian, Spanish and Italian styles. Small entrance fee was charged to enter this palace.

Next..the Masjid Raya or the Grand Mosque.........

One interesting aspect of this mosque is that the decorative designs were painted instead of the usual tiled mosaic that we will usually find in other mosques.

We moved on the the next attraction, the Tirtanadi Water Tower. This water tower was built in the year 1886 and completed in 1908 for the main purpose of providing the city with clean and adequate water supply.

Another interesting place to be visited is the Tjong A Fie Mansion..the mansion built by earlier prominent Chinese entrepreneur in Medan, Tjong A Fie. The entrance fee is quite high if you want to enter inside the mansion thus we settled with taking pictures at the external garden only.

For animal lovers, the next place might catch your interest...Rahmat Wildlife Museum. This museum was set up by Dr H. Rahmat Shah, an animal lover who loves to hunt (??). Quite weird to say that right, but at least that's what he claimed to be...anyway there are so many species of animals from small birds to the big elephant and giraffe (of which had been legally hunted or died in zoos and donated) being displayed here.

some of the buildings with colonnial dutch influences...........

the famous "pasar ikan" or fish market...previously famous for its fish but now famous for its cheap groceries and goods......we bought some local snacks here...

-Kay2011-